Tonight
by Max DeLuca
Summary: Alternate ending "Kidz". Just a few changes to stuff I didn't like, you don't have to read it if you already did.


Tonight  
Alternate ending "The Kidz are Aiight". Just read it, you'll get the setting if you saw the show.  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Dark Angel or the lyrics to Lifehouse's "Quasimodo" or "Breathing".   
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
"I just wish I could have spent more time with her, though. Find out what her life's been like... what she's been up to."  
"Maybe after everything settles down you two can hook up."  
"How?" she asked. He held up his phone.   
"Last number dialed. Zack's contact number." He replied, as Max came over to him.   
"Oh! I don't believe it! He usually covers his tracks way better than this."  
"You'd think, huh."  
"Thanks," she said, handing the phone back to him. "Got anything to eat?" she asked playfully.  
"Why don't you go see for yourself," he said in a low voice. She laughed and walked over to his fridge.   
"Got a poulet chez Cale... some leafy green stuff... and mashed potatoes. What say you and I have that dinner? Promise I won't bail on you this time."  
"K," he replied from his seat on the counter, turning his gaze to her and keeping it there, smiling, wondering how he got this wonderful person to stay with him for so long. //Mmm... he's staring... hehehe. I wonder how long till he gets nervous and turns away.// But he didn't get nervous. With every newly earned step he took, he gained more confidence. Getting shot had absolutely knocked the impudence out of him... for that, he was sub-consciously grateful (not for getting shot, of course... that was what had kept him from this person for so long... but grateful for what he had gained in the process). Max would never have trusted him when he had so much self-assurance. She liked to be in control, he knew that. He jumped down and walked over to her. //Maybe he's not going to get nervous...// she thought as he came over to her, standing as close as possible, but not touching her. She could feel his hot breath on the edge of her ear.   
"Logan... thanks for being there, to pick us up. With the car. Tonight. Thanks." She said, trying to break the silence.  
"What? Oh, yeah. Anything. To keep you... safe." He said, broken out of his reverie by her voice. He moved away just slightly. She smiled... unbeknownst to him. //There we go. *That's* the Logan I know, losing his nerve after coming so far.// she thought, gaining back some of her own confidence. She turned around and moved a few millimeters closer, making them closer than they were at the lake. He watched her eyes as they became distracted with his lips for a second, then migrated to meet his.  
"But... you really went out on a limb there, using Eyes Only to contact my sibs. You risked your life to save people you had never even met. How can I ever thank you enough?" she asked, knowing full well what it would do to him. She stayed close to him and looked back up into his eyes... but it was too late. He had regained his confidence once again, and when she looked at him, she didn't see the uneasiness that had been present moments earlier... instead it was his fiery conviction. //Shit.// she thought. //Nice one, Max, what did you get yourself into now?// She willed her muscles to move, to bolt before anything happened, but somehow she couldn't. Her feet were planted there, frozen by his permeating gaze straight inside her, looking into the depths of her eyes.  
"It was nothing," he said, never breaking the connection between their eyes. Now it was Max's turn for turmoil. Logan knew of her discomfort and assailable position, but being the gentleman he was, didn't manipulate her. "Really." He said, moving away to continue getting their long-awaited dinner ready. Alleviation and loss swept over her at the same time as he left her, moving around the kitchen. She slumped herself down at the counter again, taking a long swig of her wine, despondently. She watched him work on their food, silently. Her mind drifted to a different time and place... a cabin... allowing fear, pain, and deprivation to wash over her. Logan hadn't noticed her daydreaming, trying to stay focused on the task at hand, and not totally sever any digits since he had come close before. Suddenly, a familiar tune broke into his focus, and he turned his head to the girl, who was staring at the wall vacantly, humming the song. He came over to her, staying on the opposite side of the counter. Her gaze didn't shift in the slightest. She was dreaming with her eyes open. He moved around to the other side of the counter and sat next to her, taking her hands in his. After a few seconds her head slowly turned to look down at her hands in his, then up to meet his face.  
  
You could be right and I could be real   
honesty won't be a pain   
you'll have to feel   
I don't want to live like this anymore   
you can't take away from me who I am   
you're not alone   
I have felt the same as you   
have you ever felt like your secrets give you away   
you're not alone   
I have been there, too   
I think everyone feels the same   
everybody wants to feel okay   
everybody wants to feel   
cause you can't change me   
you can't break me   
there goes the world off my shoulders   
there goes the world off my back  
  
He watched her regain her consciousness of reality as the blank stare left and was replaced with a childish innocence, fear, and longing. A single drop fell down her cheek before he hugged her to him, hard. She cried... for her estranged siblings... Brynn, most of all, who had been trapped again after eleven years of freedom. She cried for her secrets... which had ruined twenty years of her life. And she cried for all the people who cared about her and the people she cared about.   
  
I am hanging   
on every word you say and   
even if you don't want to speak tonight   
that's alright, alright with me   
cause I want nothing more than   
to sit outside Heaven's door   
and listen to you breathing   
is where I want to be  
  
  



End file.
